Dr. Aharon Schwartz retired after 36 years from Teva Pharmaceutical Industries where he served as Vice President Innovative Ventures.
Previously at Teva, he also served as Vice President of the Copaxone Division, Vice President Business Development/Export Division and Head of the Pharmaceutical Division. DR. Schwartz serves as Chairman of BioLineRx, Proteologic, BioCancell and Amorphical. He also serves as Director at Clal BIoTechnology, D-Pharm, MediWound, and CureTech. Dr. Schwartz received his Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the Weizmann Institute.

PROF. ISAIAH ARKIN

Head of the Authority of Research & Development

Prof. Arkin was appointed Head of the Authority for Research and Development at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 2009. He conducted his bachelor's degree at the Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment at the Hebrew University and at the Faculty of Life Sciences at Tel Aviv University, and completed his doctorate in cell biology at Yale University. From 1997-2000, he was a lecturer in the department biochemistry at Cambridge University, after which he joined the faculty of the Hebrew University as a senior lecturer in biochemistry, where he was awarded the Alon Fellowship. In 2001, he was promoted to associate professor and in 2007, he became a professor. He was appointed chair of the Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences in 2008. Prof. Arkin's research deals with computational (bioinformatics) and experimental structural biology of membrane proteins, and use and development of novel experimental and computational approaches to elucidate membrane proteins structure.

MR. REUVEN BEHAR

Co-Managing Partner,of Fisher Behar Chen & Co. Advocates & Notary since 1999. Mr. Behar is a leading practitioner in the litigation, anti-trust, communications, intellectual property and M & A bars. Mr. Behar graduated with honors from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem Law School. Between 1976 and 1980, Mr. Behar served as the editor and member of the Editorial Board at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem Law Review, and between the period commencing 1976 until 1980 Mr. Behar acted as an assistant lecturer in corporations and criminal law at The Hebrew University Law School. Mr. Behar is a Major (Res.) in the Israel Defense Forces.

DR. S. MORRY BLUMENFELD

Dr. Blumenfeld has recently retired from GE Medical Systems, having been with GE for over 34 years, the last 3 1/2 years as Managing Director of GE Medical Systems in Israel. He joined Medical Systems from GE’s Research Center in 1975 to initiate GE’s CT business, and up to 1981 served as the Manager of CT Market Development and then as the Manager of CT Applications. In 1983 he became Product General Manager, for GE's MR business, and during the period 1990-1998 led a “startup” within GE. Dr. Blumenfeld currently serves as the Managing Director of Meditech Advisors company, and as a member of the Board of Yissum Research Development Company, the technology transfer company of the Hebrew University.

GIDEON FEDERMANN

Gideon is one of the managers of Eurofund, an Israeli based Venture Capital fund. He joined Eurofund in 2002 after completing his Bachelor of Science in Communications Technologies, Summa cum laude, from New York University. He is a board member of Dan Hotels Corp., Israel's leading Hotel chain and Freiberger Compound Materials GmbH, one of the world's leading manufacturers of compound semiconductor substrates for the microelectronics and optoelectronics industries.

MR. MARTIN GERSTEL

Mr. Gerstel is chairman of Compugen Ltd, Evogene Ltd, and Keddem Bioscience, co-founder and co-chairman of Itamar Medical, and serves as a director of Symyx Technologies, Yissum Ltd, Yeda Ltd and the Foundation for the National Medals of Science and Technology. Prior to 1994, Mr. Gerstel was co-chairman and CEO of ALZA Corporation, which he helped found in 1968. He is an advisor to the Burrill Life Science Funds and the board of the Israel-U.S. Bi-national Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) Foundation and is a member of the Boards of Governors of the Weizmann Institute of Science and the Hebrew University,. Mr. Gerstel holds a B.S. from Yale University and an MBA from Stanford University.

ASSAF HARLAP

Mr. Harlap is Smart Israel Brand Manager at Colmobil Corp., Israel’s largest car importer and distributor. He is also part of the founding team of MEET. Assaf is a graduate of the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London and received a MBA from Harvard Business School.

MR. AMOS MAR-HAIM

Mr. Amos Mar-Haim has been a member of the Governing Council of the Van Leer Group Foundation since 1995, following a varied career in government and industry. After graduating from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, he spent over a decade with the Israeli Ministry of Trade and Industry, rising to the position of Director General. His business career began in 1979 as Director General of AML Corp. Ltd., then of Clal Industries Ltd. He was Deputy Chairman of the Board of the Israel Corporation Ltd., one of the leading investment groups in Israel. Mr. Mar-Haim was Chairman of the Board of Zim Israel Navigation Company Ltd., Deputy Chairman of the Board of Israel Chemicals Ltd., member of the boards o the Dead Sea Works, Bromine Company Ltd., Rotem Ampert Negev and many other industrial companies. From 1989 to 1994 Mr. Mar-Haim served as Senior Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem and later as the Mayor of the city of Bnei-Brak. He also was the Chairman of the Israel Postal Authority and member of the Advisory Board of the Bank of Israel. Currently he is the Chairman of the Board of Atara Investment Co. Ltd. and Chairman of the Board of Merkazit Underwriting and Investment Banking Ltd. He is a member of the Boards of Merican Israeli Paper Mills Ltd., Roqozin Industries Ltd., Keter (Publishing) Ltd., Mehadrin Ltd. and other companies. He is the Chairman of the Association of the Stock Exchange Listed Corporations.

DR. JUDITH RICHTER

Dr. Richter is founder and chief executive officer of Medinol.
Her versatile CV includes both business and academic expertise. She served on the board of several Israeli companies including Israel's leading telecommunications company, and its international subsidiaries.
Dr. Richter’s extensive experience in the medical sector covers various positions, including chief executive officer of MEDCON – a publicly traded company specializing in telemedical and telecardiological systems – and various positions with TEVA Pharmaceutical Industries. Dr. Richter is a graduate of Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and received her Ph.D. from Boston University.

DR. HADAR RON

Dr. Hadar Ron, is a Managing Director at IVCH - Israel Healthcare Ventures (IHCV) is a venture capital fund dedicated to providing venture capital investment to Israeli life sciences companies. Dr. Ron has an extensive medical, legal and management experience gained in senior positions in a range of insurances companies, law firms, medical and educational institutions. Her legal and management expertise includes venture capital consulting, medical malpractice, general and medical insurance, and legal practice. In the medical field, Dr. Ron has spearheaded several research initiatives and has developed and taught courses on medical law. Dr. Ron holds MD and LLB degrees from Tel Aviv University and has studied in advanced courses at Boston University School of Medicine and at the School of Business Administration at Tel Aviv University.

MS. BILLY SHAPIRO

Director General, The Hebrew University

Ms. Billy Shapira is the Hebrew University’s Director General. Previously Ms. Shapira served in various roles at the university, and since 2002 she was the Director of the Student’s Administration Division. She holds a M.A in Public Policy (Cume Laude), and B.A in Russian studies and International Relation (Cum Laude).

PROF. HERMONA SOREQ

Hermona Soreq, professor of molecular biology and the elected Dean at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Science, received her PhD from the Weizmann Institute of Science in 1976. She serves on the boards of Makhteshim Agan and of the Oligonucleotide Therapeutic Society. Prof. Soreq has authored over 400 scientific publications and is the recipient of several prizes including the Teva and the Landau Prize and Hebrew University’s Kay Prize as well as honorary degrees at Stockholm, Buenos-Aires, Erlangen-Nuremberg and Beer-Sheva. She is a member in the Israeli Council for Research and Development, Health Advisory Committee of The European Community’s 7th Program, European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO), Human Genome Organization (HUGO) and a number of professional societies and editorial boards.